On the 11/25/1982 episode "A Hair of the Dog," the governor's
wife's dog (Lamonte) was stolen and soon a ransom note arrives on
the scene.

Frantic to get the dog back, Captain Frank Furillo (Daniel J. Travanti)
enlists the help of street gangs as well as his own police squad to find
the dog.

Unfortunately, the dog finally shows up just as Lt. Hunter (James
Sikking) bounces a ball out of an open window and the dog proceeds to
chase the ball to his doom.

TRIVIA NOTE: The comic depiction of
a dog jumping out of a window has been used in a number of TV shows
including THE JEFFERSONS ("Dog Gone" while George babysits a dog); and
COACH ("Poodle Springs") as the dog of Dauber's fianceé's mother falls out
of a 7th floor hotel window while in Dauber's care.

In recent years the film Just Married (2003) starring Brittany
Murphy and Ashton Kutcher shoved a little bulldog leap out a window to an
early grave.

In the 1998 film There's Something About Mary starring Cameron
Diaz, a tiny but vicious dog jumps at Ben Stiller who sidesteps the dog's
advances. Consequently, the approaching dog flies past Stiller and out the
window behind him and ends up in a full body cast.

In the 1981 film Under the Rainbow starring Chevy Chase, a
similar doggie disaster occurred in World War II era Los Angeles, as the
manager of the Culver Hotel leaves his nephew in charge for a weekend.